


An Endless List of Regrets

by MsThunderFrost



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Accidental Pregnancy, Alpha Asterius (Hades Video Game), Alpha Zagreus (Hades Video Game), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Infertility, M/M, Nesting, Oblivious Zagreus (Hades Video Game), Omega Theseus (Hades Video Game), One Night Stands, Past Mpreg, Pre-Poly, Pre-Relationship, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Sterility, Theseus Needs a Hug (Hades Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:21:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29103240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsThunderFrost/pseuds/MsThunderFrost
Summary: The door to Theseus and Asterius’ bedchamber slams open with such force, it knocks one of Theseus’ self-portraits off the wall. Althaea’s face scrunches up at the sudden noise. “Theseus? Theseus, are you—”“Am I… what? Wondering why you’ve suddenly burst into my bedchamber, when you’re supposed to be on your way to the Elysium Arena to battle Asterius? Because yes, I am.” Theseus does not bother to make eye contact with the daemon, choosing instead to reach for the now-fussy infant and bring her in to his chest.He can hear the soft pat-pat-pat of the daemon’s approaching footsteps. He sinks a bit further into the safety of his nest, drawing his knees up to conceal the infant’s body… “I was. I mean, I am—I’ve been trying to find you. I only have so many chances each run to explore, and Elysium is huge once you really start looking around—”Theseus stares at him blankly.The daemon shifts, looking a little uncomfortable now, “I’m glad that you’re… okay. Y-You are okay, aren’t you?” Theseus doesn’t answer. The daemon decides to change tactics, “Look, it’s… been brought to my attention that your disappearance from the Arena may have actually been my fault, and, um…”
Relationships: Asterius | The Minotaur/Theseus/Zagreus (Hades Video Game), Theseus/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 39





	An Endless List of Regrets

With a trembling hand, Theseus reaches out to curl a lock of sun-kissed golden hair around his finger. The babe’s hair isn’t long, a little less than an inch, and sticks straight out of her head like she’s received a great shock. It’s adorable, especially when Theseus binds it up with a length of sky blue ribbon—

[A shade whom Theseus did not recognize had once told him what a handsome son he had. He was not the first, nor would he be the last, to mistake Althaea for a boy. Nevertheless, the former King of Athens had been feeling particularly… _sensitive_ that day, and had responded to the perceived slight by running the offending shade through with his spear.

The shade now offered him a considerable berth each time their paths happened to cross while Theseus was out and about stretching his legs—which wasn’t very often, mind. Despite Asterius’ insistence that it was the ‘right thing to do’, Theseus had no intention of telling the daemon that he had brought his child into the world. Er, _Under_ world. Whatever.

He’d been absent from the Arena for three-hundred seventy-six matches. If the daemon noticed, it was clear he didn’t care. And so Theseus had resolved to harden his un-beating heart, for when the inevitable came to pass and the daemon made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with either of them. Theseus absolutely refused to entertain potential alternatives—like the daemon, or his father, taking the child away.

The gods had already taken one of his children. They would not take another.]

His daughter looks like his eldest son had, when he was a babe. His hair had been a little thicker, and a little darker near the temples, but… When Asterius had first laid her on his chest, for a moment, he’d thought she _was_ Hippolytus. But then, she’d looked at him with those wide, glassy emerald eyes, and the mirage had been broken. Not that he’d been particularly upset to discover this stark difference in their appearances—it would’ve been a rather cruel trick of the Fates to have him bear a child identical to the one that he’d lost.

The one that he’d had killed.

Hippolytus had been the very best of sons. From the moment of his birth, Theseus had cherished him. He was the light of his life, until the Lady Aphrodite intervened. Convinced that Hippolytus had raped his wife, he’d enlisted his father, Lord Poseidon’s, help in cursing his son. The Lady Artemis had filled him on what’d transpired in gruesome detail—how a beast from the depths of the sea had frightened Hippolytus’ horses, who’d thrown him from his chariot and dragged him to his death. His son was _dead_ , and Phaedra, his wife—

The Lady Aphrodite had cursed his wife to fall hopelessly in love with his son, to punish Hippolytus for failing to worship her as he ought. When Hippolytus repeatedly spurned her advances, she became physically ill, and decided to take her own life. In the note she had left for Theseus, she had claimed that Hippolytus had raped her in an attempt to avoid admitting to the true reason behind her despair. Theseus, crushed by grief, had believed her. Once he’d discovered the truth, it was much too late—the damage had already been done.

Lady Artemis had been ruthless, and Theseus had accepted his dressing-down with the grace of one who already had every intention of punishing themselves for what’d transpired for the rest of eternity. Nothing she could say or do would be worse than the pain of living with what he’d already done.

It did not matter if Hippolytus had forgiven him—he would _never_ be able to forgive himself.

So, when the Lady Artemis had cursed him with infertility, it had been like a blessing in disguise. How could he bring another child into the world after what he’d done? Even if there was no way that he could’ve— _should’ve_ —known about the Lady Aphrodite’s involvement… what he’d done was unforgiveable.

The River Styx had washed him clean of Lady Artemis’ curse—but the sentiment behind it remained.

He’d also been wholly unable to locate Hippolytus in the afterlife. He had been so sure that Artemis would have seen to it that he was put in Elysium—he may not have been a hero in the conventional sense, but the virgin goddess had promised to make him the subject of religious practice following his death… Time was a rather nebulous concept in the Underworld, and thus he had no real idea of how long he spent searching for his firstborn before realizing that perhaps this was part of his punishment—that, even in death, he would remain separated from his son.

After that, nothing had really mattered… not until Lord Hades gave him Asterius.

“And now we have you,” Theseus’ lips curl into a warbling smile as his little girl drools all over his nest. She has one of her flame-licked feet inside of her mouth, the flames sizzling ever so softly as drool trickles down her chubby little ankle. “I’m sorry that you’re sire is a foul daemon, with no concept of—”

The door to Theseus and Asterius’ bedchamber slams open with such force, it knocks one of Theseus’ self-portraits off the wall. Althaea’s face scrunches up at the sudden noise. “Theseus? Theseus, are you—”

“Am I… what? Wondering why you’ve suddenly burst into my bedchamber, when you’re _supposed_ to be on your way to the Elysium Arena to battle Asterius? Because yes, I am.” Theseus does not bother to make eye contact with the daemon, choosing instead to reach for the now-fussy infant and bring her in to his chest.

He can hear the soft _pat-pat-pat_ of the daemon’s approaching footsteps. He sinks a bit further into the safety of his nest, drawing his knees up to conceal the infant’s body… “I was. I mean, I am—I’ve been trying to find you. I only have so many chances each run to explore, and Elysium is _huge_ once you really start looking around—”

Theseus stares at him blankly, as he works his fingers through Althaea’s tufts of short, blonde hair.

The daemon shifts, looking a little uncomfortable now, “I’m glad that you’re… okay. Y-You _are_ okay, aren’t you?” Theseus doesn’t answer. The daemon decides to change tactics, “Look, it’s… been brought to my attention that your disappearance from the Arena may have actually been my fault, and, um…”

The corner of the Champion’s mouth twitches— _may_ have been his fault?

“A-And I just… I was worried, because we’d… well, you know… and then you just kind of disappeared.” _He_ was the one that disappeared? That was rich. “And I wanted to apologize, in case I did anything wrong or I hurt you in anyway—blood and darkness, is that a baby?” The daemon’s voice jumps an entire octave.

Theseus frowns, “It is, indeed.”

This is it. This is when the daemon will show his true colors and flee. When Asterius had suggested that he and the daemon fuck, the idea of Theseus ending up heavy with the daemon’s child was the last thing on _any_ of their minds. While the daemon was enough of a fanboy to know that Theseus was an omega (he’d been quite proud of the fact that he’d carried all three of his sons—male omegas were rare, after all, and male omegas who could be impregnated were rarer still), he seemed to be under the impression that Theseus was infertile because… well, he was dead.

To be fair, Theseus had been under the same impression, just… for a different reason.

And he _refuses_ to allow that to make any of _this_ better.

The daemon steps closer. Theseus recoils a bit more, until his back is flush with the wall. There’s nowhere else for him to turn. “Y-You don’t… You don’t have to be afraid. I won’t… I don’t want to hurt you.” Perhaps there is some truth to that, although the fact remains that he’s _already_ hurt Theseus—

He didn’t _honestly_ expect him to believe that it’d taken him three-hundred seventy-six trips to Elysium to find a chamber that is located almost directly beneath the damned Arena? There are some days (nights) where the roar of the crowd is so loud, it’s any wonder he can get Althaea off to sleep. But Lord Hades had been kind enough to offer him shelter, and protection, from Lady Artemis’ wrath… He wasn’t about to turn down his hospitality, even if he had an inkling it’d only been offered because his son had accidentally left him with child.

“I just…” He stops about a foot and a half away from Theseus’ nest, where he can just barely see the babe resting serenely in Theseus’ arms. “She is mine, isn’t she?” Theseus narrows his eyes, and the daemon stammers, “I-I just meant… I know that you and Asterius are mates, and I—”

Theseus’ scent sours with distress. He is well-aware of the fact that the babe in his arms is not his mate’s—

He doesn’t need the foul-mouthed hellspawn who sired her to remind him of that.

The daemon swallows nervously, “Oh. Right.” He takes a seat on the very edge of his and Asterius’ bed, placing his chin in the palm of his hand. “That would _probably_ be why the bull hasn’t had any interest in talking to me as of late.” His shoulders slump a little, “If I’d known, I—”

Theseus licks his lips, his entire body shaking. “You would’ve _what_? Chosen not to fuck me?” Despite all of this, Theseus did not regret sleeping with the blackguard—no, that’d been almost pleasant. He didn’t regret Althaea, either.

He regretted bringing a child into the world with a young, foolhardy Prince who hated him.

He regretted bearing a child that _wasn’t_ his mate’s, knowing full-well that Asterius would never be able to have a child of his own.

He regretted being unable to see Aphrodite’s influence for what it was, and that his foolhardiness had cost him his son.

Theseus regretted a great many things in his life, and in his afterlife. It seemed that his story was rapidly shaping up to be a tale of what could have, and _should_ have, been. He doesn’t know if he trusts the blackguard—or why he would even want to, after being abandoned for so long, but there’s something in the way that he stares at the precious bundle in Theseus’ arms that gives him pause. Surely, the daemon had not stormed in here expecting to find out that Theseus had delivered a child—

But he hadn’t fled the moment he’d discovered the truth, either.

The daemon’s mismatched eyes bore into his own, “C-Can I… ask what her name is?”

Theseus considers. It is a rather benign request, all things considered. Shifting a little to make himself more comfortable in the mess of blankets and half-destroyed chitons he’d used to construct his nest, he whispers, “Althaea.” It meant ‘healing’, which had seemed rather fitting, at the time.

“That’s a very pretty name.” He says. Althaea bends to place one of her little feet in her mouth once more. “Theseus… if I’d known that this had happened, I… I never would’ve just _assumed_ that everything was okay. I would’ve pressed father for answers sooner—”

He shakes his head, “He wouldn’t have told you anything.” Lord Hades had decided that it simply wasn’t safe for anyone— _especially_ the daemon, to know about the child, for fear of the Olympians discovering what’d happened.

“I mean… he was, admittedly, rather cryptic about the whole business.” The blackguard concedes, “He just kept insisting it was my fault, without providing me with any real detail—”

“Blood and darkness,” Theseus snaps. Althaea makes a distressed little sound, a few tears clinging to her dark lashes. “You really don’t understand, do you? _I’m not supposed to be able to have children_. And the minute Lady Artemis discovers that the Styx fixed whatever she broke inside of me—”

His full lips turn down in the beginning of a frown, “She… _Artemis_ … cursed you?” He doesn’t quite seem to believe it.

He doesn’t want to talk about it. Not now, with this man, who just a short while ago hadn’t even known that he was a father. Not ever. But he _does_ , because his mouth is a traitor and won’t fucking _stop moving_. “As punishment. For killing my son.”

He tells the blackguard the story, just as Artemis had relayed it to him however many hundreds of years ago. It is no easier to force the words out over his clumsy tongue now than it had been then, when he’d stood in front of Lord Hades and explained what he had done—and why the Minotaur, far more virtuous than he, was the one who truly deserved to spend eternity in Paradise. The daemon listens, his mismatched eyes wide as he soaks in every gruesome detail. He has no way of gauging whether this is better or worse than what he was expecting—

All he knows is that it’s not _good_. And if the daemon harbored any love for him, it’s washed away as he describes, in great detail, how Hippolytus had fallen from his chariot and been dragged to his death. As he concludes the story, he braces himself for the outrage, the _anger_.

[He remembers when the daemon had first shown his face in Elysium—he’d been so excited to see Theseus, to have the chance to face him in a proper battle. Theseus was a legend, not only because he’d slain the Minotaur, but also because he was only one of a small handful of omegas to ever make it to Elysium—

The other was Achilles, and his stay had been so brief it was hardly fair to count it.]

The daemon is silent for a long while, before offering in a too-quiet voice, “I could… try to find Hippolytus for you, if you’d like.” Theseus’ eyes widen the moment the words register, “There’s a chance that he’s in Asphodel. Which is… obviously not ideal, but… if you’d like, maybe I could reunite you?”

“Reunite… with Hippolytus?” The idea fills his chest with an unfamiliar warmth, and yet… “No. No, I…” He’s better off wherever he is, far, far away from Theseus. “But, that you would think to do that…”

He shakes his head, “What happened… it wasn’t your fault, Theseus. You trusted your wife. You had no reason to suspect that she was under Aphrodite’s influence.” He’s been telling himself that for years—it doesn’t take away the knowledge of what he’d done, but it _does_ make it a little easier to bear.

“Thank you… Zagreus.” The daemon’s eyes widen a little.

“Did you just…” He cocks his head to the side, “Did you just call me Zagreus?”

And the moment has officially been ruined. Theseus turns up his nose, glaring at the daemon as his daughter begins to fuss and demand a proper feeding. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be?”

Thankfully, the daemon can take a hint. He scurries off to whatever chamber awaits him next, one step closer to having his ass handed to him in the Arena. Although, he muses, bringing the babe up to his chest (he notes, with a wry little half-smile, that his shaking has stopped), perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad if Asterius lost, just this once.

After all, the daemon had his moments of being almost tolerable… and Theseus… well, he was feeling generous.

And maybe… _just maybe_ … he wouldn’t need to regret it.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on Twitter [@MsThunderFrost](https://twitter.com/MsThunderFrost)


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